


A Daddy’s Love (McDanno's Twins // Season 2, Episode 1)

by OTP_Obsessed



Series: Hawaii Five-O: 'At-Home' Mini-Series (McDanno's Twins) [11]
Category: Hawaii (TV), Hawaii Five-0 (2010), McDanno - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Beautiful, COLLEGE IS A MESS!, Children, Daddy Steve, Danny's children mentioned, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Established Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams, Fluff, Happy little family, Hawaii Five-0 Big Bang, Hurt/Comfort, I Love You, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I hope you like it, I'm so bad at tagging, Love, M/M, Protective Danny, Protective Steve, Same-Sex Marriage, Schmoop, Series, Sorry this took so long to write!, Sweet, THIS IS MY SERIES, Twin Series, Twins, daddy danny, mcdanno, this took forever to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29422233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTP_Obsessed/pseuds/OTP_Obsessed
Summary: It's been almost two years since the Twins adoption and things are settling down to be as normal as possible. Except for the fact that Bailey and Colton still won't call Steve or Danny "Daddy."  Steve doesn't pay this any attention and tries to convince Danny that they'll come around to it eventually. But, after two years, Danny's starting to wonder what it's going to take for them to start calling him "Daddy.">> This episode is dedicated to "sue2556." Thank you for sticking by me this whole time and trusting that I'd be back. So sorry I made you wait so long but I'm happy to finally get to share this with you. Hope it was worth the wait, darling! <<
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Hawaii Five-O: 'At-Home' Mini-Series (McDanno's Twins) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1841155
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	A Daddy’s Love (McDanno's Twins // Season 2, Episode 1)

**Author's Note:**

> So sorry this took so long to write. I was NOT expecting to go dark for so long but...College is such a mess right now! So I want to give the biggest of "thank you's" to every single one of you and I seriously appreciate it so much that you all are being SOOOO patient with me! I love you all so much. I do hope this was worth the wait!
> 
> As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated. :-)

A YEAR LATER ~ AUGUST 

“What was that?” Steve asked, in response to Danny’s muffled question. He peered over Bailey’s shoulder to find his partner frantically shuffling through the tiny redhead’s closet and chuckled softly at the back of his throat then, smiled back at Bailey and squinted as he rubbed the tips of their noses together. “I think Danno’s gone crazy,” he whispered so only Bailey could hear. She nodded in response and giggled, softly, biting her bottom lip. 

“I heard that,” Danny sassed, backing out of the closet, and teased, “Would you stop telling our kids that I’m the crazy one? They’re going to get confused when they realize that’s actually you.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and propped Bailey onto his lap. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked, leaning back onto his hands. 

Danny nodded then, held up two coat hangers, both of which held tiny sundresses. “Blue or Orange?” 

Steve sat back up and turned Bailey on his lap, wrapping an arm around her waist. Then, after only studying the dresses briefly, he asked, “Well, Colt’s already in blue, so why not just go with the blue one so they can match?” 

“Really, Steven?” Danny scoffed, dropping his arms to his side. “I know they’re twins but they don’t always have to match every outfit they wear. Can we please let Bailey be the one to decide what Bailey wants to wear?”

Steve smirked then, cocked his head to the side. “Okay, Bailey, you choose,” he said, sweet but smugly, nodding his head toward the dresses for her to choose. “Blue or Orange?”

Bailey looked to Danny. He held up each dress, lightly bouncing the orange one more than the blue, hoping to persuade her to not choose Steve’s choice. For a moment, Bailey studied the two sundresses while, also, darting her eyes between the Jersey cop and the Navy SEAL. Both of which had intense smiles on their faces, as they waited for her to come to a decision. “Um, I choose…” she said, hesitantly, leaning towards the blue dress. Then, after spotting a green sundress hanging in the closet behind Danny, she exclaimed, “…my green one!” She jumped down from Steve’s lap and ran toward the closet. 

Danny frown and dropped his arms again. “Wh—the green one? But the orange—”

“But Danny, I thought we were letting Bailey decide what Bailey wants to wear?” Steve asked, smugly. “If she wants to wear the green one, let’s put her in the green one. Personally, I think that one’s a cuter color anyway.” He actually didn’t care what dress Bailey wore today. But Danny always had the cutest reaction when he lost arguments like this and it always warmed Steve’s heart when he would try and change Bailey’s mind and use her nickname— 

“Muffin…” Danny asked, kneeling to Bailey’s eyelevel. “…I love your green dress but, why don’t we try to wear the orange one? I think it would look really cute with the tights you’ve got on. Don’t you think so?”

Bailey met Danny’s pleading eyes and frowned. She looked to the orange dress, then to Steve, who gave her a nod of approval, then back to Danny and shook her head. “But…but Mama gave me the green one,” she said, shyly, wrinkling her hands together. “You ‘member?”

Danny closed his eyes and sighed softly. Crap. Game over. He looked back up to Bailey and nodded. “Of course, I remember,” he smiled, taking her tiny hands into his. He squeezed them as hard he could, without causing any danger to the girl’s fingers, and frowned, feeling all her pain pour into his palms. “Bailey…” he said, softly. 

“Danny…” Steve interrupted before he could. His voice was disapproving. And even though he wanted so much to do just what Danny was about to do because seeing that little girl so sad made his heart pound in the back of his throat, Steve shook his head and, stern but tenderly, said, “…not now.” Though he knew Danny was more experienced at raising children than he is—aside from the twins, of course—Steve was well informed when it came to losing a parent at a young age. Even with Doris’ death being just an act, he’d felt her loss for over twenty years before actually losing his dad. So, this time, he had the upper-hand. 

And as much as Danny didn’t want to admit it, he knew Steve was right. Danny nodded to let Steve know he got the message then, turned back to Bailey and smiled. “…let me get it down for you,” he said, lifting her hands up to kiss them. Bailey smiled back at Danny and watched, with a bright smile, as he stood to remove the green sundress from where it hung. Danny pulled the dress off the hanger then, knelt back down and offered it out to Bailey. “Arms up,” Danny instructed, balling the dress into a small “o” between his hands. Without hesitation, the little red head shot her arms to the sky and Danny lifted the dress down her arms, over her head and wiggled it down her torso. Steve couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle as he watched Bailey shake her butt impatiently for the dress to drop. When the sundress hit Bailey’s knees, Danny smiled, “There you go. How’s that, Baby?” 

Bailey nodded and swung her arms around Danny’s neck. “Thank you, Danno,” she exclaimed, diving into his arms. Danny almost fell back, stumbling to catch the girl in his arms.

“Can I have a look?” Steve called out, reaching a hand to Bailey. The little red head jumped off Danny’s lap and accepted Steve’s hand, which spun her around three times. When she faced back forward, on the final spin, Steve straightened out the bottom of the sundress, nodded, “Beautiful. As always,” and gave Bailey a warm kiss on the forehead.  
Bailey’s cheeks blushed before she hurried into the hallway, the tiny patter of her dress shoes fading as she rounded the corner. Steve smiled and closed his eyes a moment. Though he knew it was inevitable, he never wanted that sound to grow up. 

Steve’s moment of serenity was jerked away by the sound of Danny frantically clearing the Twins’ toys off the floor and tossing them into a green plastic bin. Steve raised an eyebrow and watched, silently, as his partner mumbled angrily to a stuffed lion before slamming it against the zoo of animals on Bailey’s bed. (If they were on-duty, Steve may have had no choice but to charge him with animal cruelty for that. But he was more curious as to what had gotten into Danny than his actions against a stuffed animal. They’d talk about that later.) Danny ended his battle with the stubborn door of the Twins’ bookshelf after it slammed down on his left, first two fingers. “Dammit!” he cried out, shaking the pain from his hand. In one swift movement, he stood up from the floor, caressing his injured hand in his right, and sat on the bed beside Steve. “We’ve really got to fix that stupid thing.” 

Steve gestured for Danny’s hand. “Doesn’t look broken,” he smiled, gingerly, bringing the injury to his lips for a quick kiss. “But it’s probably going to be sore for a while. Want some ice?” He carefully sandwiched Danny’s hand inside his own and secured it inside by interlocking his fingers. 

“No, I’m fine,” Danny sighed, flatly. 

“Danny…” Steve challenged, softly. He knew his partner’s pain was deeper than a couple of bruised fingertips. 

Danny met Steve’s eyes and almost immediately turned away. His chest burned like he wanted to cry but he couldn’t make any tears. Danny shook his head and looked to the ceiling, swallowing back the fiery lump of embarrassment in his throat. He took in a deep breath and, on the exhale, looked back to Steve and said, “They’ve been here two years and still don’t call me ‘Daddy.’” 

“That’s why you’re upset?” Steve asked, chuckling a bit louder than he intended. “Of course, they don’t call you that. You’re not really they’re daddy. Marcus was.” 

Danny narrowed his eyes and his voice, “Yes, I know that, Steven…” He ripped his hand away from Steve’s and went back to clearing up toys on the floor. “…but it still would be nice to hear them say it to me at least once.” Danny grumbly scooped up the bucket of toys and held it against his hip, shaking his head while rolling his eyes, as he exited into the hallway.

“Danny, I…” Steve breathed, calling for his partner but couldn’t get out another word before the Jersey-born cop had disappeared around the corner. He sighed, heavily, and slumped back onto the Paw Patrol pillows piled along the head of Colton’s bed. He grabbed the lone Spiderman pillow—the one Colton had begged them not to leave the store without—and spun the tag around his finger. Steve peered up to the sticky stars on the ceiling and frowned. Maybe Danny really did have the upper-hand when it came to parenting after all? Was the Twins’ saying Daddy really that important? After a moment of trying to convince himself he knew what he was doing—and just before the Spiderman pillow cut of the circulation in his fingers—Steve threw aside the pillow and shot up from the bed. “Danny, I’m sorry,” he called out, again, racing over to the doorway, readying his hand to switch off the light. “I didn’t realize that this meant so much…” He stopped when he noticed the two framed pictures hanging on the wall in front of him. 

The one on the left: Danny, Charlie and Grace, at the beach, that Steve had taken a few summers ago, when he had bought Danny surf lessons for his birthday. And the one on the right: a picture of the Twins’ (and Steve) blowing out their candles on their fourth birthday. 

Steve leaned against the bedroom doorway and smiled. He’d passed these pictures a thousand times before but there was something about this moment warmed every inch of his body. And he knew he’d never stop loving the Twins. “Daddy” or not. 

*****  
LATER - HQ

"Wash your hands, wash your hands. Soapy, sudsy, wash your hands. You don't want to pass germs to your friends. Everybody wash your hands."

The lyrics to the preschool musical-hygiene song entered Steve’s head as fast as the waterflow that cleaned his hands. And not even thinking of any King songs could make it go away. Nope. Like an itch that he just couldn’t reach, the hygiene song was going to make its presence known as long as possible. 

"Soap and water, you can't go wrong. Scrub as long as it takes to sing this song."

Steve sighed, reluctantly, when he found himself humming along. Not because he had given in to the song’s itch but rather because he realized just how catchy the song actually was. Though, after making such a fuss about purchasing it, he refused to tell Danny that he enjoyed it because he knew he’d never hear the end of it; Danny’s complaining and this song. 

"Wash your hands, wash your hands. Scrubbly, bubbly, wash your hands. You don't want pass germs to your friends. Everybody wash your hands. Everybody wash your hands."  
Steve flicked the water off his hands and reached for the paper towels. Softly singing, “Make them clean as they can get. Now dry them off and you’re all set,” he finished drying his hands, then, he crumpled the towel, bit his bottom lip, and made a two-point toss into the trash bin. “Yes,” he cheered, spinning back towards the mirror, softly praising himself. 

“Nice shot,” Lou praised, abruptly, turning on a faucet to wash his hands. Steve stiffened and widened his eyes. Seeing Steve’s reaction out of the corner of his eye, Lou chuckled and shook his head, “Cute little song you got going there too. Haven’t heard something like that since Samantha was in diapers.” He flicked the water off his hands and reached for a towel. “Is that what they’re singing now? How’s it go…Everybody wash your hands, make them clean as they can get?” Lou danced a little jig as he crumpled his towel then, made an overhand three-point line shot into the basket. 

Steve swallowed hard. “Lou…I didn’t know…” 

Lou chuckled and shook his head. “Relax, I don’t think any less of you because you’ve been infected by preschool songs,” he assured, placing a comforting hand on Steve’s shoulder. Steve turned a fixed gaze on Lou and raised a concerned brow. Lou nodded and patted Steve’s back, “Your secret’s safe with me.” 

***** 

“Boss, glad you’re back. We caught a case,” As the two men returned to HQ, Kono swung open her office door and called out to them. 

Danny overheard the call and ended his inaudible phone call. Then, he raced out of his office to join the rest of the team, his glossy-eyed expression catching Steve’s attention. 

“Hey, you alright?” Steve asked, tugging, slightly, on his partner’s shirt to pull him back.

“Yeah, just Rachel stuff,” Danny brushed off, pulling away from Steve. 

Steve stopped in his tracks. He usually believed things were just “Rachel stuff” when Danny told him but…not this time. There was something more going on that Danny wasn’t telling. And Steve was determined to find out what that was. After he found out why the rest of the team was blocking him from looking at the monitor. “Something wrong, Team?” he asked, cautiously, making his way to the computer, while raising his brow at the barricade of people standing in front of him. 

“Boss, we…” Kono breathed but stopped for words felt like fire in her throat. Looking at Steve only made her chest feel heavy and her heart burn, so she turned, swallowing back the tears in her eyes, and distracted herself with the evidence on the screen.

Steve froze. “Chin…” And then his heart stopped. “…what’s going on?” 

“There was a kidnapping at the Wet’n’Wild water park this afternoon,” Chin informed, “HPD can’t tell yet if this was a hit or just snatch and grab but, so far, it looks as though all seven kids were all taken from field trip groups. Two of them…” He paused and swiped the amber alert images from his tablet onto the monitor, magnifying the names and faces of the seven missing children: Zanders, Andrew; Phillips, Lilliana; Grant, Michael; Hamilton, Lola; McGarrett-Williams, Bailey and McGarrett-Williams, Colton. “…we’re the Twins,” he continued, his words tearing at his throat like glass. 

The room froze. Except Danny vomiting into a nearby trashcan. 

****** 

Steve stared blankly at the screen and felt as though his hear had been ripped from his chest. One second, he felt it beating, the next silent and still. He rubbed Danny’s back, soothingly, and did all he could to not collapse to his knees, as his mind began to race…

Why would anyone kidnap preschoolers? What were they going to do with Bailey and Colton? Were they even alive? How long had it been before someone noticed they were gone? Where will the kidnappers be taking them? Could they be off they island by now? Please don’t let them be off the island by now. What do the kidnappers want? 

…he closed his eyes to silence the panic. Then, knowing there was only one thing he could do to save his family, Steve took in a deep breath and held it inside his lungs, a moment, before commanding his team. “What’s the plan?” he asked. It still hurt to breathe. 

Kono, Chin, and Lou all met each other’s eyes to ponder this. Then, when they turned back to Steve, Lou, calmly, stated, “Steve don’t you think it would be better if you two sat this one out?”

“What?!” Danny sassed, finally lifting his head away from the trash. Though he still wanted to vomit—and if anything happened to those Twins, he’d probably just skip the vomiting and go straight to dying—he knew that wasn’t going to bring his babies home. “You expect me to stand around and do nothing while my children are out there being held hostage by strangers?!”

“No, of course not,” Chin said, calmly, trying to keep his own heart from exploding into pieces. “We just want to do what’s best for the Twins.” 

“What’s best is to have Steve and I out there with you looking for them…” Danny continued, typing away, frantically on the monitor. His voice began to break as he spoke his next words, “…the more hands…the better. They’re out there and we’re going to find them…we’re going to find them…we have to find…”

“Danny…” Steve urged, softly, taking his partner’s trembling hand in his. Danny kept his eyes pinned to the screen as long as he could until they were forced away by Steve’s hand to his chin. Their eyes were reddened and swollen. Both their lips trembling. “You know I want to get Bailey and Colt home just as much as you do. But, we have to think of the other children…” 

Danny swallowed hard, “I don’t care about the other children, Steven,” his words ripped away the skin at the back of his throat, for deep down he knew those words couldn’t be less true and felt his heart sink to the balls of his feet as he stared into Steve’s worrisome eyes and said, “I just want mine.”

Danny’s words paralyzed Steve’s heart. On a normal day, he’d think Danny had lost his mind for saying such things about victims in a case. But this wasn’t a normal day. And this wasn’t a normal case. Steve closed his eyes and, remembering how it felt the day Grace was taken, he squeezed Danny’s hands, peered into his partner’s eyes, and gave a small nod. “I know,” he said, softly, his throat thick with worry. “But that means you have to let Five-O do their job, okay?” 

"I am Five-O," Danny reminded. 

"Not today," Steve informed pulling Danny's badge off from his belt. He did the same with his then, placed them on the edge of the monitor, and frowned, "I know it hurts but we're have to stay on the other side this time, okay?"

The tearful glisten in Steve’s eyes broke Danny’s soul. “Fine,” he said with a broken breath that Steve couldn’t help but pull him in closer. Danny leaned into Steve’s embrace, wrapping his arms so tightly around his partner’s back he was sure he caused a few bruises, and closed his eyes, silently praying to whoever would listen to bring the Twins home safely. 

“We’ll bring them home,” Chin assured, comfortingly, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder, “Promise.” And breaking Cop Rule #1. Steve leaned further into Danny’s hug, frowned, and side-eyed Chin, who had already returned to study the case on the monitor. Any normal day, Steve would give Chin a lecture for making such a promise on a case like this. 

But this wasn’t a normal day. 

****** 

MCDANNO HOME – 6 HOURS LATER 

Steve sat on the living room couch and stared out the window, spinning the tires of Colton’s tiny, plastic police car with his fingers. His eyes darted toward the clock on the wall then, down to his phone. With his free hand, he clicked the screen on. No messages. Steve turned back to the window and let his head fall, limply, against the couch. He swallowed the lump in his throat and, softly, whispered to the sky, “Please, take me instead.” Danny’s soft cries pulled Steve’s attention toward the Twin’s bedroom. For a moment, the former Navy SEAL listened to his partner plead with the world to give him his babies back. Steve felt his chest grow tight and he turned away, covering his face with his hands. “For the love of God, take me,” he cried, his throat on fire and his words heavy. 

Up in the Twins’ room, Danny, hesitantly, loosened his grip on Bailey’s sundress to massage his right hand with his left. The muscles in his palm throbbed. And trying to make a fist sent a shock to his elbow. As he shook his hand awake, the static that spread from his wrist to his fingertips told him that human hands aren’t meant to be balled into a fist for six hours straight. But what choice did he have? It was either that…or go kicking in every single door in the state until he found where the kidnappers had taken the Twins. As that thought came into his head, he took Bailey’s sundress into his left hand and gripped it tight into his fist. 

Which, of course, was probably best for everyone. 

He squeezed Bailey’s sundress so hard, his nails dug straight into his palms. Danny ignored their sting, and the fact that his fingers had started to go numb, and stared out the Twin’s bedroom window, watching the ocean waves splash rhythmically against the shoreline. Every time the tide came in, it told him he’d never see the Twins again. And every time the tide went out, it told him he’d never be able to look Steve in the eyes again without wanting to cry. Danny closed his eyes and hoped on a Jersey sunset that the waves were wrong. 

A few moments later, he was pulled back from drowning—in his thoughts and the sound of the waves—by his phone. His heart raced as he answered the call. “Danny?” Rachel answered, through a place of fear and sadness. 

Danny closed his eyes and leaned back against Bailey’s bed. “H-h-hey Rachel,” he spoke so softly he wasn’t sure if he’d spoken any words. “Did Charlie have a good day at school today?” He knew that’s not why she had called. He knew why she had really called. But Danny didn’t want to talk about why she had really called. 

“He did,” she stalled, her accent making the moment seem a bit longer than it actually was. Danny could just picture her counting down the seconds, in her head, before she decided it was the right time to finally bring up the real reason she called. 3…2…1…“Any news about the Twins?”

Danny sighed. “No, Rachel, not yet” he grumbled, rubbing the frustration from his face. Part of him was happy she had called. Intrigued in fact because it wasn’t every day that your ex-wife would be concerned about your kids that aren’t also hers. But the other part—the part that made his stomach feel like he’d just an entire bucket of lead—wished she would just hang up. 

“I’m really sorry, Danny,” she comforted. She emphasized the ‘really’ because she knew exactly what Danny was feeling. They both had felt this years ago when Grace was taken.  
Danny scoffed, reading between the lines. “Hey, it’s not your fault.” He shook his head and swallowed back tears then, twisted Bailey’s sundress in his fingers and brought it to his lips. He closed his eyes. 

“I know but I wish I could do something,” Rachel replied, her voice broken. 

Could you hand up then?, his lead stomach suggested. Danny cleared his throat and nodded, lightly, even though he knew Rachel couldn’t see him. “I wish there was something you could do,” he agreed. Tell her to hang up, his heavy stomach urged again. “You know, Rach…” he continued, ignoring the monster in his gut then, an interrupting vibration caused him to check his phone; it was Grover calling. Seeing that, his stomach screamed, Answer it! Danny’s heart began to race a million miles a minute, as he returned the phone to his ear. “…I’m going to have to call you back. Grover’s calling, it’s probably news about the Twins.” 

“Of course,” Rachel pleaded. “Why are you talking to me, hang up!” 

Danny knew Rachel was smiling, which made him smile for the first time in six hours. “Hey Rachel?” he said, softly, before handing up. “Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome, Danny,” Rachel said. “Now answer the call before you lose him! Let me know how it goes, good luck!” 

Danny snickered, softly, then, answered. “Lou? You there?” His heart still raced. 

“I’m here, what took you so long?” Grover asked, with a bit of concern. 

“Long story,” Danny said, quickly switching to panic-mode, “Is there any news on the Twins? Are they okay? Did you find them? Please, tell me you found them because I wouldn’t know what to do if they were—” 

“Danny…” Grover interrupted, “…slow down. How can I tell you what I know if you wont stop talking and give me a second to answer?” 

“You’re right, sorry,” Danny nodded. “Go ahead.” He clenched his eyes, not sure he was ready to hear what Grover had to say. 

“So, good news is, we found them,” Grover started. Danny’s eyes shot open and felt the heaviness in his stomach vanish, as Grover continued, “We were able to track them down found them all hidden away in some abandoned house. But the bad news is, we didn’t find the kidnappers. From what we can see, it looks as though these guys were running some kind of child trafficking ring out of this place. Thankfully, we got here before any of the kids got shipped away.” 

Danny didn’t even notice his palms had fisted up and were pressing into the floor beside him. “Anybody hurt?” 

“Chin and Kono are heading over to Kings with all the kids now,” Grover replied. “The Twins haven’t left their sides, Danny.” 

Danny finally noticed his fist and pulled it up from the floor. They’d find those kidnappers later. Right now, the Twins were his only concern. “Uh, Lou do you…” 

“Go,” he commanded, “I’ll meet you guys there when I’m finished processing the house.” 

Danny didn’t even remember hanging up the call before frantically sprinting down the staircase. “Steve! Steven, the guys found the Twins!” he called out, as he raced to the bottom step. He rounded the corner, and his thigh caught the edge of the side table. Danny winced, softly, his knees instantly caving from the pain. He clenched his eyes, and moaned a swear word or two, ignoring the shock rising up his spine, as he rose back up to his feet and nonchalantly limped into the living room. 

Having heard the impact of Danny’s thigh to the table, Steve snapped his head toward his partner, descending the stairs. “Hey, Danny, you okay?” he asked, jumping up to tend to Danny’s injury. 

“I’m fine,” Danny brushed him away. Danny sat on the bottom step, a moment, kneading at the throbbing in his thigh. Steve crossed over to the stairs, anyway, and sat beside Danny, on the side of his injury. “I said, I’m fine, Steve,” Danny chuckled. His leg shook the stairs as he continued to deny the static electricity running through his leg. Ignoring his partner’s rejections, Steve slipped his arms through Danny’s and pressed the balls of his hands into the heart of Danny’s injury and his squeezed his thumbs around the outside of Danny’s thigh. Without a word, Steve leaned his head into Danny’s shoulder and continued to massage him until Danny’s leg had steadied.

Once Danny had relaxed, Steve gave the injury one final knead with his thumbs and looked into Danny’s eyes, smiling. “Better?” 

“You’re unbelievable,” Danny couldn’t help but smile back. “You’re sitting here wasting time massaging my leg when we should be on our way to the hospital to pick up the Twins, who need I remind you have just been kidnapped at five-years-old.” Steve rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. Then, he held out a hand for Danny who, when taking it, asked, “Why did I marry you?” 

“Because you can’t live without me,” Steve reminded, pulling Danny to his side. It was the ecstasy in his eyes that became the only motivation Danny needed to kiss him. 

****** 

KING’S MEDICAL – A LITTLE BIT LATER 

Danny and Steve raced, hand-in-hand, through the hospital hallways, toward the emergency room. Using their 5-0 credentials to ignore all the “NO RUNNING” signs, the husbands shoved passed every obstacle—including people—in their way, until they arrived at the ER. When they burst through the double doors, where Chin was there to greet them. 

First came the hugs. 

“Didn’t I promise you we’d get them home?” Chin joked, holding his arms out to Steve. 

Steve smiled, brightly. “That you did,” he said, accepting the hug. “But that’s the only pass you’re getting. Make that promise to any other family and you and I are going to have a few talks,” he teased. Chin chuckled with an understanding nod and patted Steve on the shoulder. 

Then came the questions. 

“Where are they?” Danny interjected, anxiously examining the room, while giving a half-hug to Chin. “Are they okay?” 

“They’re fine. Kono’s with them, she hasn’t left their side since we picked them up,” Chin nodded, giving Danny’s shoulder a comforting pat. “Doc says they may have a broken bone or two but they’re just running tests on everyone to make sure everything else checks out.”

Danny’s eyes met Steve’s. Everything was going to be okay? Steve smirked with the corner of his mouth and nodded to assure him it would be. Danny’s lips trembled into a smirk, for they trusted Steve, but disappeared quickly, as he still couldn’t convince himself it would be. Steve smiled, a bit brighter, and took his partner’s hand into his, linking their fingers together. He squeezed Danny’s hand tight, this time promising him everything would be okay. 

Seeing the distress behind Danny’s smile, Chin placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Hey, they’re alright, Danny,” he assured, squeezing Danny’s shoulder gently. “I know going through this kind of thing twice can’t be easy. I mean, even though she wasn’t mine yet, I thought my world was over the day they kidnapped Sara. So, I can only imagine how this feels having had this happen twice now. And believe me, nobody would blame you for never wanting to let those babies out of your sight again. But I can promise you that will only make things tough on all of you. Trust me.” 

“I know…” Danny shrugged everyone away and paced to the other side of the room. “…I know I can’t do that to them. Rachel and I wanted to do it with Grace, but we knew, deep down, that it would only scare her, keeping her on watch 24-7, more than it would actually help make us feel better. But…” He stopped and sighed, slumping down into a nearby chair. Danny shook his head and his voice broke as he asked, “…how can I protect them? How can I make sure they’re safe if this kind of thing keeps happening? It was one thing for Grace because that was an ex-partner of mine but now this? Why me? Why my kids? Again! Isn’t a dad supposed to protect his children and make sure they’re safe? How am I supposed to do that, to be a good dad to any child now, if I can’t even stop this from happening?” 

Steve’s heart sunk to his feet. He crossed over to the chairs and sat beside Danny, taking his husband’s hand in his. “Danny ours weren’t the only kids, remember,” he tried comforting. “It’s like we tell victims all the time: this kind of thing can happen to anyone. It just happened to be us this time.” 

“I know, I know, you’re right. I should just be happy that they’re safe,” Danny nodded, leaning into Steve’s shoulder. He rubbed the side of Steve’s hand with his thumb and sighed, “But this still makes me feel like a really shitty—” 

“Danno! Steve!” two tiny, familiar voices interrupted, calling out as they burst through a different set of double doors. Steve and Danny looked up to the voices and when they saw Bailey and Colton, freeing themselves from the hands of Auntie Kono, the world around them froze, leaving just the four of them in motion. The two redheaded twins raced over to Steve and Danny and dove into their open arms. Steve and Danny inspected the Twins—Bailey had a tiny, black splint on her right wrist and Colton, a white bandage tapped above his eye—then, squeezed them tight and smothered them with kisses.

“Oh, we missed you two so much,” Steve exclaimed, pulling Colton as tight as he could to his chest without causing harm. 

“We’re so sorry those bad guys took you and hid you in that house,” Danny said, frantically tweaking at Bailey’s dress. “Are you alright? You can tell Danno everything.” He locked his arms around Bailey’s back and pressed a long, warm kiss into her cheek. 

Bailey blushed. “We’re okay, Daddy,” she nodded, jumping up and wrapping her arms around Danny’s neck. Danny went to hug her back but hesitated when he realized what she had said. He met Steve’s eyes, who had also turned to the child in confusion. 

“Uh, Bailey…” Steve asked, cautiously, “…did you just say ‘Daddy?’” 

Bailey nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah, he’s Daddy Danno.” 

Danny scoffed and looked to Steve in amazement. Steve raised an eyebrow at Danny then, after gaining a bit of jealously, he asked, “Does that mean I’m still just ‘Steve?’”  
“No,” Colton interjected, “you’re Daddy Steve, he’s Daddy Danno.”

Danny grinned his biggest grin and chuckled. “You know what this means don’t you?” The Twins both shook their heads, in sync, in response. Steve looked to Danny, Danny looked to Steve then, they each looked to their Twin and smiled, smugly. “It means Double Daddy Belly Blows!” Danny shouted then, he and Steve, quickly, lifted the Twins’ shirts and blew raspberries onto their tiny bellies, while simultaneously tickling their sides. 

Kono smiled, “Now that’s a special kind of love.” 

Chin chuckled in agreement. 

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> **THIS SERIES WILL BE GOING DARK ON OCCASSION UNTIL MAY, 2021**
> 
> Due to the increase in school assignments, the COVID-19 pandemic, recent family issues, etc. I really have to put my focus on my school work at the moment. However, I have always promised to bring you all updates on this series and that is something that I continue to do. Which is why I try to write bits and pieces of this "episodes" whenever I get ahead on assignments, go on breaks, or am off work and can catch up on school work, which frees me up to write (like today). I will continue to do this for you all and keep on promising that this story is NOT over, until I have actually, physically written that it's over. :-) No matter how long of a period this series goes "dark" for, you can always count on it coming back, unless otherwise written in one of these boxes! 
> 
> So, thank you all for sticking around waiting to hear from me! I'm sorry I made you wait so long. Please feel free to continue to leave feedback. It's always appreciated! <3 Thank you all for following this series and the journey of this tiny Ohana! I will see you all soon! Mahalo! <3
> 
> **WE WILL BE BACK SOON, I PROMISE! There's so much more to come. Trust me. It's not over yet! There's so much more I have planned for this family! <3 **


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